Davnor CSF to mark first success in Mindanao

Of the three provinces implementing the Credit Surety Fund program of the Bangko Sentral, Davao del Norte is set to make history for being the first in Mindanao to release loans to coop members.
This is what Engr. Humber Cabunoc, head of the Provincial Government Cooperative Business Enterprise & Manpower Development Division, said in his welcome address during the recent special meeting of BARC-MPC (Beneficiaries of Agrarian Reform in Checkered Multipurpose Cooperative), the cooperative which was the first to submit complete documents to qualify for the program which now has a total fund of P14,387,000.
The meeting was organized to review the application of 83 members of BARC-MPC, who are the first recipients, and formulate measures to speed up the application process. In attendance were the BARC-MPC board of directors (BODs); CSF program oversight committee; Rhod Leyson, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas project manager, and Elma Chu, Development Bank of the Philippines accounts officer.
While the Credit Surety Fund program is meant to give coop members or micro, small and medium entrepreneurs an opportunity to avail of loans to put up capital for their business in the absence of collateral, “we have to consider if business ventures are viable,” said Elma Chu, “to make sure that loan recipients can pay up.” Since BARC-MPC contributed P700,000 to the CSF, they can borrow as much as P7-million. As per CSF guidelines, loanable amounts are computed up to 10 times the coop’s contribution. 
A BARC BOD director said, “Dugay na ni gipangandoy sa mga miyembro sa BARC,” most of whom need support for their banana farm inputs and livestock expansion. “Kung ma-comply ning requirements, hinaut pa unta dili madugay,” he added. 
The moment all application requirements are submitted to the bank and it will only take three days at most to process the cheques, Chu said, “from the date the applications are endorsed to the bank.”
Cabunoc and Leyson of Bangko Sentral committed assistance to the 83 applicants to comply with the requirements in time for the scheduled awarding of cheques last March 29.
Meanwhile, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas nominated the provincial government of Davao del Norte as implementer-partner of the Credit Surety Fund program for the 2010 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award (PLBA). [Mary Grace Apuya]